Wow. We're. Excited. Now.

Robert Hruzek on Jan 30th 2007 at 7:01 am true stories

So funny, I just had to repeat this one from Seth.

“Just because a marketer says something is amazing, exciting or just plain wow doesn’t mean it is.”

Grim faces. Supposedly exciting message. Sheesh, makes ya want to rush out and upgrade, doesn’t it – uh, not! It reminds me of a employee “town hall” meeting I attended some years ago while working for a large engineering firm in Greenville, South Carolina.

The company had been running an employee contest to come up with a new logo design. All during the meeting, of course, the logo was up on stage and covered by a cloth while the CEO and other big shots pontificated about what a good logo should represent, what attributes it should have, etc., ad nauseum (I always wondered – do these guys really believe this stuff?)

Finally the moment arrived, and the cover was whipped off – to stunned silence! Seriously, there were at least three seconds of total silence. You could almost hear the crickets.

It was pink. Shiny, metallic pink.

Luckily, one of the VPs bravely stood up and started clapping, which seemed to break the paralysis of the crowd, who then dutifully started clapping along with him. (In the meantime, the hapless VP of Marketing was curling up in a ball onstage.)

I’ll leave you to draw your own conclusions here, but suffice it to say the color of the logo changed to blue in short order. (Not that there’s anything wrong with pink, mind you. But it WAS a bit, shall we say… daring, to say the least. The company had ALWAYS had blue logos, after all.)

Just a funny memory I thought I’d share. Anyone out there remember any similar experiences? More importantly, what did you take away from it?

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# Bobon Dec 31st 1969 at 5:59 pm
I dunno, Monique, maybe it DOES. I still remember the Windows 95 unveiling – talk about a three-ring circus! But Microsoft is one of those love/hate things, and I think they know it.
I thought maybe you missed Open Mic because you were afraid of getting even weirder challenges…
# Monique Attingeron Dec 31st 1969 at 5:59 pm
While this doesn’t really speak to the problems with Microsoft software (or does it???), I am a happy convert to the Mac world. After having my MacBook Pro for a few short days, I had already decided I would NEVER, EVER return to the evil empire of Microsoft again…
By the way — I missed Open Mic Night last night! Sigh… Maybe next week…
# Bobon Dec 31st 1969 at 5:59 pm
“Wankjob” – bwa-ha-ha-ha!
Hey, I like that – I’d say that expression captures the essence of the experience perfectly. Thanks, Raj!
# Raj Duttaon Dec 31st 1969 at 5:59 pm
Disclaimer: i just might have posted this the third time!!
Comment: You know what’s worse? seeing the VP Marketing doodle a logo himself, and then having everyone around the table instantly agree it’s better than what his agency came up with. ask me, i’m in advertising.
having said that, agree with you: logo presentations are a complete intellectual wankjob.

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